My blog on Gadgets and the like

iPhone 8 wireless charging

As I’ve mentioned a few times in previous posts I love the convenience of wireless charging. The market however is in a state of complete and utter chaos, and Apple has done nothing to make things better, and in ways made things worse. the iPhone 8 apparently supports 7.5W wireless charging. But what does that even mean? Is that input wattage to the coil, input wattage to the phone? Apple itself, today do not even offer an official charge pad, apparently one is coming in the new year. We are already 3 months past the release of the iPhone 8, come on Apple get your ducks in a row.

So I’ve been trying to sort that out. The plethora of options available on Amazon and other places is dizzying. A fact made worse by the fact that chargers attempt to be a broad product with support for multiple phones. Reading specs from the products, if they even bother giving them isn’t helpful either. Reading reviews from other people go into more detail about the nice light or the physicals of the charger Vs the details of it’s charge speed, or heaven forbid actual details. I really wish I could find a wireless charger for the iPhone 8, that included a power adapter, and came right out and said that it support the iPhone 8’s 7.5W.

As in the past be careful you get a multi coil charger or you have to get the phone on exactly the right place to get it to charge.

So let’s have a look at what I have been able to find … First off lets set a baseline, the iPhone’s default 5W charger. Below 60% the charger charges the phone at a rate of around 1%/min. So this gives a nice easy number to relate to. As the charge rises above 60% the phone slows down the charge rate, and slows down again at 80%. By 90% it’s down to .5%/min. This is important to note when trying to measure the charge rate of your phone on any charger.

What’s also important is to insure you are using the correct power adapter for your wireless charger. Sometimes they are quite clear on what you need to use … other times, not so much.

So on with what I have found … These results are with the iPhone 8, so your results on a different phone may have completely different results. Sorry … That’s the Qi industry right now. By the way, I have included links to Amazon where I can to help you out. But be aware, these do not pay me in any way.

One of the first multi coil chargers I bought is DoCooler 6300. It turned out to be not a bad charger being able to get an average charge rate of 0.57%/hr and a peak of around 0.63%/hr. So this is around 57% the speed of the wired charger. This seems to be hard to find these days.

Next up I tried one of my favorite chargers, an Itian. It has been beside my bed and I use it pretty much every night. A subtle light, a nice angle, and multi coil make it super easy to use. This one was only able to get 0.36%/hr average and a max of 0.45. So this was about 36% the speed of wired. Now since I use this one at night, I’m not bothered by it’s charge rate, but if your looking to put a quick boost into your iPhone 8, this is not the charger for you. Amazon Link. Interestingly enough when I was using my Getto iPhone 6 Qi wireless case this was one of the faster chargers. An example of what’s good for one phone, sucks for another.

Next up comes a new one, that claims to be a quick charger, a Seneo. In conversations with the company they encouraged the use of a QC 2.0 adapter (Qualcom Quick charge). QC can put out 9V 2A so 18 Watts of power. I tested this one on a 5V 2A as well as 9V 2A and got the exact same numbers 0.57%/hr average with a peak of 0.63. So to call this quick is rubbish. Further conversations led them to admit that it does not quick charge an iPhone 8. So, don’t rush out on this one, as you can see it’s no better than the rest, but I guess it does work, just not so fast. Amazon Link.

By the way I bought an Aukey 5 port USB adapter that includes a QC2 port and found it to be a very useful device to have around rather than multiple adapters. Amazon link.

Next up I looked at a charger that claimed it supported Apple’s 7.5W charge mode. A Qi 10W Fast Wireless Charging Pad from Kcpella. In fact their rep said in answer to the question: “Yep.This fast wireless charger output power is 10W. In our lab test yesterday, it supports iPhone 8/ iPhone 8 Plus / iPhone X for 7.5W charging if using QC2.0 / QC3.0 adapter.” So on with the results. I was able to get 0.8%/hr average and it was spot on consistent when plugged into a QC 2 charger. It dropped down to 0.6%/hr with a 5V 2A charger. So this would be about 80% the speed of wired. So this is definitely faster than most but not as good as I was hoping for. At it’s peak I was able to see 9V 0.7A or 6.3W being drawn from the adapter. So comparing this to 80% of a 5W wired charger the losses due to wireless drop down to 26% Vs what I have seen in the past of 50% losses. So a fairly efficient charger. So is this the face of a fast charger for Apple? Well without having a benchmark from Apple who friggin knows. And how we get from 7.5W advertised down to 5.4W measured I don’t really get either. Amazon link.

Next up I looked at a Wofalodata car charger that explicitly says it supports the iPhone 8. Humorously though the arms push on the volume control of the iPhone 8. DOH. This was hands down the slowest coming in at an average of only 0.42%/hr with a max of 0.6%/hr or about 42% of wired. So while this held the charge of the phone even using an intensive app like Waze, it was just barely keeping up. Better than nothing I suppose. Amazon link although I DO NOT RECOMMEND this for the iPhone 8 due to the issue with the volume control. That goodness for the fantastic return policy of Amazon.

Here’s a table of the data:

And this graph shows you the difference in charge between wired, and the fastest Vs slowest wireless charge speeds over time

So for now, the Kcpella is the fastest kid on the block (if plugged into a QC 2 adapter) … BUT … always remember the iPhone 8 also supports wired Quick charge.